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Monday, July 7, 2014

An Anglo-Saxon Version of Prof. Hans-Werner Sinn?

"There were many factors that together triggered the
original euro crisis in late 2009 and early 2010. Chief among them was growing
doubt that European economies and their governments would be able to service
their enormous debts. Added complications were the lack of enforced (or even
enforceable) fiscal rules for the eurozone, a severe banking crisis, huge
differentials in productivity across the continent and the resulting balance of
payments and trade imbalances – all of this coupled with a palpable absence of
political leadership, both at the national and the EU levels".

This is one of the most concise summaries of the origins of the Euro crisis which I have read. It comes from the economist Dr. Oliver Marc Hartwich whom I had never heard of before. Given his name and his location (Australia), I thought that he probably was an economist of the Anglo-Saxon tradition. In the 'about me' section of his blog, he has two captions: 'love me.... or loathe me...'. No doubt, the man is controversial. He reminded me a bit of an Anglo-Saxon version of Prof. Hans-Werner Sinn. I looked up Dr. Hartwich's s background in the interenet and --- he is a German! Germans simply can't win in this game...

Still, his article is very interesting and his conclusion is as follows:

"We are likely to see renewed doubts about Europe's fiscal viability and speculation on Euro periphery debt. This would then also trigger questions about the future of the Euro as a currency. Of course, the European Central Bank can (and will) try everything to stop a new crisis from escalating, just as it has done so far. It can create more money to pass on to banks which lend it to goernments. Similarly, fiscal policy can also invent new bailout schemes or extend existing ones. Such policies can continue as long as there is the political will to do so. But the required interventions to keep a dead currency alive and bankrupt banks and governments solvent will need to become more exterme over time".

2 comments:

Considering that the Saxony is still part of Germany and that the Germanic tribes had migrated in Britain, anglo-saxon may very well be another name for "anglo-german".

Far more impressive, is the greek version of Hans Werner Sinn. And not only that. It's a SYRIZA's Sinn!!!

Ifo’s Sinn Urges Debt Cut to End Southern Europe’s Crisis

With debt burdens at “almost unbearable” levels, “we need a debt conference in Europe to grant partial debt relief to the southern countries,” Sinn said. “This has to be negotiated jointly, since it involves several countries.”